Homecoming
by Nishu96
Summary: A Home is a place where you re always Welcome, but does this also count when you became a Criminal? Can you return there without any Problems? And most importantly, can you live with the knowledge of all the terrible things you have done? [Post-War]
1. Your Decision

****[A/N: Hey guys, so here is another Story about Kabuto :D This Story will tell you what, in my imagination, would happen after the War and how his life would go on then.** Enjoy reading!]**

* * *

**Homecoming ~**

**Chapter 1 ~ Your Decision**

"And what are you expecting of me now?"

Orochimaru was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed in front of his chest while looking with a questioning look at Kabuto, who stood a bit further away from him.

"Just an answer, that is all I want."

The grey-haired supported himself on a tree as well, since he still was in his Dragon Sage Mode. He felt the sweat on his forehead and how his energy slowly left him, so that he feared he would become unconscious every moment. But he couldn´t release it now or at least not as long as he didn´t know if Orochimaru had the intentions to kill him or not. So he stared at the black-haired man in front of him and was waiting for an answer, but the latter had just a smirk on his lips.

"Well, I should probably get rid of you, since you posses nearly the same knowledge as I do and if there exist a person who is able to harm me then it would be you…"

Kabuto´s eyes widened as he heard him saying that. In the condition he was he couldn´t really stand a chance against his former Master, but honestly he never had the intentions to fight him anyways, though he knew it was possible after his decision. Thanks to Itachi he finally understood what he had done wrong all this time and that there always existed a place where he belonged to, which he could´ve called his home. Now that he saw everything so clear, he wanted nothing more than going back to the Orphanage and starting a new part of his life.

"But I won´t kill you Kabuto."

"What?"

Lightly surprised he looked into the golden eyes of Orochimaru, who still smirked at him.

"Yes, you heard right. I do not have any intentions to kill you…"

The pale man moved a few steps closer to his previous servant, who took a few steps back.

"Let me give you a little advice before I leave. Though you may have decided that you want to be one of the good guys again, you should never forget that the person you were before won´t vanish so easily. Also, do you really believe the people around you will forgive you after what you have done? I don´t think so and what are you doing when the world turns it´s back on you? Will you run away and say it was the fault of the others?-"

"Wait a second! I never blamed others for my mistakes."

"Oh no, didn´t you? Didn´t you say that I manipulated you?"

"Yes, but that is the truth. You manipulated me and made me to the person I was."

Orochimaru let out a sigh and gave Kabuto a serious glance.

"Listen carefully, the only thing I did was giving you advises and telling you what could help you to find your true self. I never forced you to inject my DNA nor did I force you to inject everybody else´s DNA inside of you. In the end you made this decision on your own, so don´t blame me because you regret it now, because if you keep on doing this then I don´t see a future for you."

Speechless about those hard words his former Master told him, he looked to the ground while getting a headache. It was true what he said, in the end it was his decision and he couldn´t change it now that he regretted it. Orochimaru walked past him, but before he walked away he said:

"Good luck."

Incredulous he looked after the black-haired, until he vanished inside of the woods. Was it really over? Was he really free now? Washed-out he sat down on the muddy ground, leaning with his back against the tree. He released his Sage Mode and felt then how the Snake that came out of his belly withdrew, his skin color turned back to normal as well as his eye color. Tired he leaned his head back and closed his eyes for a moment.

His plan was to go back to the Orphanage, but was he really welcome there? Everybody would know who he is and what he did in this War, so could he even return there?

He had a guilty conscience, because of what he had done. Because of him so many people had to suffer, because of him was Madara Uchiha brought back and because of him was nearly the whole World doomed. Yes, he saved Sasuke´s life, who then was able to beat Madara with Naruto, but that little good deed was nothing compared to the bad things he had done and he knew that. So who would want somebody like him beside them?

Opening his eyes again, he stared into the dark forest, as it suddenly started raining. With effort he stood up and walked deeper inside of the woods while feeling the sludgy ground under his feet. The wind was cold, making him shiver a little bit. The first thing he had to do was getting some Clothes, was what he thought as he crossed his arms and felt the cold water running down his naked upper body.

It was already night, so he first searched for a place to stay for the night. After walking for a while, he found a small cave and laid down on the stony ground. Unable to find some sleep, he looked up to the ceiling, being plagued by his guilt feelings. The pictures of the people who died because of him during this war remained in his head as well as all those people he used as experiments. When he looked back at the things he did to those "experiments", he started hating himself for it. He humiliated them, was hurting them or in the end killed them.

* * *

A few days later he was on the way to the Orphanage with a lump in his throat. It was still raining, but he was able to steal some clothes and a black cloak out of a shop. Though he didn´t want to commit any more crimes, he didn´t have another choice, since he had no money to buy anything. As he was now standing a bit further away from the place he grew up as a child, he gulped and felt like he was paralyzed. Should he really go there?

"Hey! Who are you?"

A manly voice spoke to him, which terrified him a bit, since he was so lost in his thoughts. He turned around and looked at a young man with black hair and dark eyes. Kabuto needed a moment before he realized who stood in front of him and asked then:

"U- Urushi?"

The man looked now lightly surprised at the cloaked person in front of him and wondered who it was. Seeing that he wasn´t able to recognize him as well, he took the hood from his cloak off and Urushi´s eyes widened in shock.

"Kabuto?"


	2. Am I Welcome?

**Chapter 2 ~ Am I Welcome?**

Urushi looked in shock and surprise at Kabuto, who bowed his head a little bit. He hadn´t seen his little Brother for 13 years and always hoped he would return home one day, but now that he stood in front of him he couldn´t believe it.

"Is that really you?"

The grey-haired nodded lightly, but was then surprised as his Brother embraced him out of nowhere. First lightly terrified, he then returned the hug and since days he finally felt something like relief inside.

"So and now let´s go inside. It´s pretty cold out here…"

The black-haired walked a few steps, but stopped as he noticed that Kabuto still didn´t move. He looked straight to the ground and seemed to be again lost in his thoughts.

"Don´t you want to come with me?"

Urushi asked lightly worried, but Kabuto then looked back up in his brothers eyes.

"Am I even welcome here?"

Surprised he looked at him, but smiled then and grabbed his little Brothers hand.

"You´re always welcome here Idiot…"

Nervously he walked then behind Urushi through the door and was lightly surprised as he noticed that the inside of the Orphanage didn´t really change since the last time he was there. Also a delicious scent went up his nose and since he didn´t really eat anything in the last time, his belly made some noise, what was also noticed by his Brother who grinned then.

He guided him inside of a room where a single bed was standing in. Kabuto sat down on it and sighed, while the black-haired noticed how done his little Brother looked like. The dark circles Kabuto had under his eyes because of his lack of sleep, as well as his unkempt grey hair and the fact that he looked some kind of starved, made Urushi become sad. Since he didn´t want to show him how worried he was about him, he smiled and said:

"How about you take a shower and then I´ll bring you something to eat?"

"I- uhm- yes, why not…"

"Alright! I guess you still know where the shower is, do you?"

"Yes…"

Urushi turned around and was about to go, as suddenly Kabuto stopped him.

"You know what I have done, right?"

With a sorrowful look he glanced at the elder one who nodded slightly, not sure what he should response to this. Sure he knew what Kabuto did during the war and also what he did before, but that didn´t change the fact that he was his little Brother.

"If you want to we can talk about this later on, but first of all you should rest for a while. You look awful, you know…"

He smirked at him and Kabuto also smiled lightly, due to the fact that his brother was still the same as before, very insensitive, but on the other hand he hadn´t looked inside of a mirror for a while, so it was possible that he told him the truth.

As he now sat in that room all alone, those voices inside of him came back. Those voices who told him what a monster he was, who told him that he was responsible for the death of hundred or thousands of Shinobi during the war. Would they ever go away or did he had to learn to live with them?

* * *

Meanwhile walked Urushi into the kitchen, feeling a little bit nervous since he had to talk now with the other person who lived in the Orphanage as well. As he entered the kitchen, he immediately met two brown reddish eyes glaring at him.

"Where have you been so long Urushi? The kids were waiting for you…"

The young, brown-haired woman pointed with a wooden spoon at the black-haired, who scratched himself nervously on the back of his head.

"I´m sorry Haruka, but I had some kind of family issues…"

"Family issues?"

She raised her brows and looked at him with a questioning look.

"Y- Yes, uhm you know I told you once about my brother, right?"

"I guess you did… Wasn´t he on a very long Mission as a spy or something?"

"Something like that and well he finally returned…"

"Oh really? That´s good isn´t it?"

She asked with a smile, but Urushi still didn´t know how to tell her who exactly his brother was. A S-Rank Criminal who played a major role in the War and who was a servant of Orochimaru before. He wondered if she would be okay with it that he wanted him to life in the Orphanage again, but he had no other choice than telling her.

"It is good of course, but I would like you to meet him, because I would´ve liked him to stay here."

"Well I mean since you´re so often on Missions it wouldn´t be bad to have somebody here who´d help me with the housework and with the children."

"Fine then I want to introduce you to him…"

"Okay, but let me first finish the food…"

* * *

Kabuto, who stood now under the shower, some kind of enjoyed the very hot water that ran down his body. Though it burned a little bit he had missed the warmth, since he wasn´t able to take a normal shower in the last time. When he was done, he wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed another one with which he rubbed his hair dry. As he then looked inside of the mirror, he couldn´t believe how awful he really looked like. His reflection reminded him on a Zombie or something like that.

Walking back inside of the room he was before, he found some fresh clothes laying there. Some dark blue pants and a greyish sleeveless shirt. After taking the clothes on and also combing his grey hair, he laid down on the bed and snuggled his head on the soft pillow. The last few days he had to sleep outside and either in caves or other small hideouts. Since he also had to look that nobody was able to find him, he couldn´t go to places where other people could´ve saw him. That´s why he was glad to finally sleep in a normal bed again.

* * *

Urushi and Haruka were meanwhile on the way to Kabuto´s room, the brunette carrying a tablet with some food on it. She wondered what kind of person Urushi´s little brother was, since he didn´t really tell her so many things about him. As the black-haired then carefully opened the door and peeked in, he gave Haruka a sign to come in as well.

She then looked at a young man, maybe a few years older than her with grey hair, who laid on his belly in the bed. Urushi lightly shook him and he looked up, then grabbing beside him on the nightstand and taking on his glasses. Then he looked at the girl who stood on the door and as their looks met, Haruka let go of the tablet in shock. Her eyes widened and she took a few steps back as she recognized who just sat a few meters away from her.

The food was now splattered all over the ground and Urushi stood up, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"What is wrong?"

Now she pointed at Kabuto and whispered:

"He… It was him who killed him back then…"

Her voice shivered as well as her body.

"What do you mean Haruka?"

With a fearful look in her eyes she then said:

"I could never forget his face. The face of a real Monster…"


	3. The Reprieve

**Chapter 3 ~ The Reprieve**

Urushi looked back and forth between Kabuto and Haruka, while his little brothers eyes widened. Who was that girl?

In anger glanced the brunette at Kabuto and as Urushi noticed that he dragged her out of the room. The grey-haired then just sat there, staring at the food that laid on the floor and became sad again. He probably had to leave after how that woman reacted.

* * *

Outside tried the black-haired to calm Haruka down again, since she really seemed to be enraged.

"How can you bring somebody like him here Urushi?! Are you insane or what?!"

"He is my little Brother and he needs me at the moment, I can´t just let him down…"

"That guy belongs into a prison or he deserves even something worser! He killed MY Brother!"

Urushi´s eyes widened a bit, but he tried to keep calm and replied:

"I´m sorry for that and I bet Kabuto is feeling sorry as well. Please, if you just could give him a chance t-"

"No! And what about the children? Do you really want somebody like him around them?"

A sigh escaped the males lips, since he didn´t know how to convince her to give his little brother at least a chance. Haruka glanced at him with rage inside of her, since Kabuto was the man who killed her brother so merciless in front of her eyes. She couldn´t forgive him this and honestly, she didn´t want to anyways.

"Haruka please! I´m afraid that he could do something stupid if he has to leave again!"

She narrowed her eyes, but thought then that if it was her brother who needed her help, she´d probably do the same as Urushi.

"Two weeks and if he does anything suspicious then I´ll inform somebody in Konoha about his location, understood?"

"Yes…"

A bit relieved that she allowed Kabuto to stay, he turned away from her and went back into his little brother´s room. Kabuto sat on the bed, embracing his knees and afraid about what would come next. He felt then a hand on his shoulder and looked up, just to see Urushi smiling at him.

"I talked with her and you can stay here…"

"Really?"

He asked incredulous, but the elder one nodded. A feeling of relief spread through Kabuto, but then echoed the womans words through his mind. Who was her brother? Why did he kill him?

Urushi, who noticed Kabuto´s thoughtful expression, tried to change the topic and said:

"Well, I´ll go and get something else to eat for you…"

"You don´t have to, do not bother yourself because of me…"

Now he hit the grey-haired on the head and replied:

"Idiot! You´re just skin and bones, so you´ll eat something!"

A bit surprised Kabuto nodded and Urushi gave him a urgently look.

"You don´t bother me little brother, you never could…"

With this statement he left the room and left Kabuto again on his own, who continued sleeping, until he had to go to the toilet. A bit in a hurry he went out of his room and into the bathroom, and felt better after he was done. When he opened the door again, he accidentally bumped into somebody.

"Ouch…"

He looked to the ground and saw a young boy, not older than 5 or 6 years with black spiky hair and emerald eyes.

"I´m sorry…"

Kabuto held out his hand while giving the boy an apologizing glance, but he just smiled lightly at him and asked:

"Are you new here?"

"Some kind of…"

"Well then my name is Ryuu and yours?"

"Kabuto…"

The boy smiled brightly at the grey-haired man, who just stood there, wearing an emotionless expression on his face.

"I hope you´ll play with me sometimes Kabuto!"

"Maybe…"

He said while walking past the small child and back into his room. It never was one of his strengths to get along with children, but since he´d live in an Orphanage that was probably unavoidable.


	4. A small Progress

**Chapter 4 ~ A small Progress**

A few days had already passed ever since Kabuto returned to his former home, but he still felt as bad inside as before. During night he most likely laid in the bed awake and let his atrocities pass in his mind review. Honestly, he began to doubt if he even deserved a second chance in life and if returning to the orphanage was really the right decision. Maybe he should´ve rather been brought to Prison and pay for his sins? Or like a lot of people would´ve suggested too he should´ve been killed right away…

As he felt uneasy inside because of those negative thoughts, he rolled silently to the side and faced the wall, while a single tear rolled down his face.

_You´re a Monster, somebody who shouldn´t be allowed to be with others…_

"Shut up…"

He mumbled to himself as he laid in the dark, but the voice in his head remained.

_All you can do is harm the people around you and afterwards you run away like the little coward you are…_

"I said shut up…!"

Lightly despaired he closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands, but this mean little voice inside didn´t stop, until Kabuto yelled:

"Be silent dammit!"

Finally he was surrounded by silence, at least for the moment, and opened his dark eyes once again. Was this really how he had to live from now on? Would he be able to find some sleep again anytime soon? Did he have to live as a burden and threat for his Brother until he´d die? He didn´t know, and for now he didn´t wish to think about it either…

* * *

Urushi sat on the edge of his bed, while a lot of thoughts wandered through his mind, most likely those involving his brother. He knew he had a problem, a big one to be honest, but the black-haired had no idea how to help his little brother out of this.

Every time he saw the young male and how broken he looked like, his heart tightened and he wondered if things might´ve been different if he didn´t go away to be a spy for Konoha. But it wasn´t his decision, it was Kabuto´s own and he couldn´t have stopped him, he knew that. Still, he called himself his elder brother, yet what did he do for him in the time when he needed him the most? Right, he wasn´t there and even now he felt as if what he was doing wasn´t enough.

"Sister, what would you have done to help him?"

He asked quietly and glanced to the ground, before he sighed and decided that it was time to sleep, as thinking about it didn´t help neither of them.

* * *

The next day Urushi had to leave for a while as he had been called for a Mission, but promised to be back as soon as he could. That wasn´t only loathly heard by Kabuto, but also by Haruka, who disliked the thought to be alone with this _person _more than anything else. What if he´d harm the children while Urushi wasn´t there? She wasn´t a Ninja so how should she protect them?

The brunette was still wary towards Kabuto and this would most likely never change, but she had promised her friend to at least give him a chance, what she was willing to do even if it was a bit reluctantly…

* * *

A bit later that day, while Kabuto sat as usual in his room and glanced out of the window, his hunger suddenly overwhelmed him and his belly growled loudly. A bit questioning he gazed at the door and thought if he should go and maybe get himself a little snack, but was hesitant as he didn´t wish to meet up with Haruka nor the children. Well, but sooner or later he _had _to leave his room and eat something, so it didn´t really matter anyways.

Carefully he tip toed through the hall and tried to be as silent as possible, but when he entered the kitchen, he stopped and gazed with slightly widened eyes at the brown-haired woman who stood on the kitchen counter and sliced some vegetables.

She also turned to Kabuto and felt slight fear inside of her, as his whole presence was enough to send a shiver down her spine. For a mere second he gazed into her eyes, before he shifted his look to the ground and bowed his head. Haruka frowned at this gesture.

Back then when she first met him, his aura was even more threatening than it was now and he wore that arrogant smirk on his lips, even when he sliced through her brother with his bare hands. It was the most awful day in her life when it happened, yet this very person who caused her suffering stood just a few meters away from her and she strangely didn´t have the wish to kill him right away. Maybe living in the Orphanage and taking care of children had helped her to overcome her hatred a little bit, but it also might have been the fact that this man was just a shadow of his old self, even she had noticed that. For her, even though she still detested him, he appeared quite pitiful and a bit helpless, as she barely saw him talking, eating or doing anything except being lost in his thoughts.

Haruka turned once again back to her work and narrowed he eyes slightly, before she took a decision she might regret later on.

"Can you cook?"

Kabuto´s head snapped back up and he glanced a bit incredulous at her back.

"Excuse me?"

"I asked if you know how to cook, you know slicing vegetables and so on…"

He nodded his head slightly and replied:

"Yes, I do…"

The woman turned to him and glanced with her brown-reddish eyes into his onyx ones, until she took off her apron and threw it at him. Kabuto seemed a bit perplex, so that she explained with a rather serious voice:

"Now that you live here, you could at least make yourself useful and prepare the dinner sometimes too. So stop staring at me as if I´m crazy and start doing it…!"

With this statement she walked past him and left a still bewildered Kabuto alone in the kitchen, who tried to figure out if this really had happened or if he was dreaming. Did she just talk to him _and _gave him a task to do?

As he had finally realized that she was serious about it, he took quickly the apron on and started preparing the meal for today, while he thought that he might finally be of a bit use there. Unintentionally tugged his lips into a small, nearly invisible smile…

* * *

**[A/N: Hey guys! Well I finally managed to Update this Story again and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Thanks to those who fav/followed this Story so far and who took the time to read it!]**


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